Branding the West Point Brand

The typical West Point cadet is a white male. He’s in the top decile of his high-school class; he’s a Jock. Middle-class; middle-American. He came to the academy for the free top-ranked education but he’s also patriotic on some level.

My slightly less-genius older brother (ha! sorry Jimmy) is a Captain in the army and a West Point alum, graduate of the class of ‘98’. We recently had a lengthy discussion about West Point’s student diversity numbers and their difficulties in increasing ethnic diversity and, in particular, student representation from within African-American communities.

Some have suggested that in order to attract more eligible African-American students - reducing entrant and test score criteria is a necessary first step. To this - many (myself included) say “nonsense”. West Point is among the academic elite for a reason and frankly, I think it’s a demeaning proposition for incoming students who don’t make the standard cut. The objective isn’t just to increase the African-American student base but to do it without sacrificing their quality of applicants and entrants. That said, leaders of the future don’t necessarily come from affluent backgrounds or middle-America and students might be inclined to go elsewhere if the West Point brand gets mired in the image of life-long military service.

Marketing the offering
The university world has reached it’s comeuppance and they’re realizing that the world of entrant applicants is a very competitive arena. If you want more students, you need to give more point of difference. For West Point, what better point of difference is there than providing the highest quality of education for a pretty price tag (it’s free), a notable career upon graduating (5 years required service in the military to pay back the 250,000 education - starting as an officer) and the promise of leadership excellence within and beyond the military (you’ll likely find that the greatest percentage of graduates saddling the executive-level seats in corporate America are West Point alums).

So with everything West Point has going for it, why are African-American numbers so low? Without question, internal brand management isn’t an issue – every cadet wears the brand 365 days of the year, 24-7 and USMA grads are the brand when they leave. But what about brand management outside of West Point...what's the perception? Likely the typical association is with that of uniforms, marches, up at dawn down at dusk…”yes sir” and “no sir” - the military. If the brand message doesn't engage a broader audience high-school students and/or African-American students with less patriotic affinities might not be inclined to send in an application.

The allure of the institution from an outside audience perspective has to stem not from a factual knowledge of the university's strengths, but from a received understanding of what it stands for --- its prestige, ideology and reputation. West Point needs to leverage it’s brand equity beyond the perception of being a rigorous "military" academy and beyond the traditional academic arena – particularly since most low-income communities don’t offer as rigorous an educational curriculum when compared to middle-income public schools or private schools for the more affluent families. They need to market the skills students will acquire to succeed in corporate America.

The question: How do you weed out the desireables and increase diversity without sacrificing the academic reputation of the school by resorting to modified score cuts?
1: Leverage the Prep Academy
2: Target non-traditional audiences/focus on the experience not the product
4: Market through multiple channels and consistently across all bases

The Prep Academy
To be sure, many of the cadets at West Point still come from affluent families. But thanks to the prep school and the fact that West Point is free, it's doing far better at attracting low-income students than some of its elite rivals. All prep cadets who successfully complete the program are eligible to go to West Point and typically more than half the eligible student body moves on to attend the university.

To achieve the objective, the Prep school should have a mandatory entrant cut based on income and ethnic diversity; and it’s required numbers each year need to be far higher than what they are today. High school students who typically haven’t made the grade will have one year to prove themselves.

Non-traditional audiences
Recruiters need to target their audience more effectively in reaching out to youths of all races and ethnic backgrounds from all income-areas; they need to market West Point’s brand promise in a manner that communicates and connects on an emotional level.

Giving You The Responsibility And The Opportunity To Go Out And Achieve.

This is not their tagline (and to be honest I don't even know what it is) but to attract students who may not have a strong patriotic affinity, promoting leadership skills and the bevy of skills acquired that are marketable outside of military service is a must. They need to focus on the experience, not the product. And alongside all West Point marketing communication should be information and applications for the West Point prep school.

Marketing Opportunties
MySpace – West Point could take a cue from the Marines who put up a profile on MySpace.com to attract fresh blood. This would give the academy the opportunity to reach a younger audience base freely and early-on in order to build "brand mindshare". The Marines were given sole control over what advertisements (none) that are posted to their profile and Friends are rigorously screened. Detailed information and communication is provided in the profile as is a link to apply.

Viral marketing – multiple variations should go out in circulation – all speaking the same language and sharing one voice. Giving You The Responsibility And The Opportunity To Go Out And Achieve. You can do this by having versions that emphasize patriotism and service and others that show how skills acquired at West Point are marketable in the civilian world (i.e., an ad that follows the West Point cadet of yesterday and the leader that he is today). Focus on the West Point experience and the by-product of that experience.

General marketing efforts - When was the last time you saw a marketing message for West Point? How many people have heard of West Point but don't know anything about it other than it's a military academy? I rarely see the West Point brand in or around the university towns I live near (but I’ll admit I don’t actually tootle around these places very often - it's a little under my age criteria ;-) ).

Point being - they need to increase their general marketing efforts, pull together a coherent brand message that emphasizes the marketable skills students will acquire and then market across all income communities with the objectives being to attract strong candidates, increase diversity among applicants - and in turn, increase adiversity among entrants.

To build diversity you need to go where diversity lives and breathes, and you need to be able "connect". Students have to believe that West Point offers more than just a military life - academic excellence, a deep-seeded sense of brotherhood within the West Point family, top-notch career opportunities, leadership, success, etc.. And if your audience believes - they'll apply.

Not everyone has a penchant for life-long military service and leadership "in the military" isn't the only benefit West Point delivers to it's student body.